The Haute Horlogerie Brand Delivers its First Poker Timepieces in Asia

Christophe Claret has delivered its first Poker timepieces to clients in Asia, done in versions of white gold/grade 5 titanium and rose gold/grade 5 titanium.

Presented in January of this year, Poker is the latest in the series of Gaming Watches from the master watchmaker, following on from the brand's Blackjack and Baccara timepieces. At the heart of this timepiece is a movement capable of orchestrating a complete 52-card game, following all the rules of Poker, specifically its most popular variant: Texas Hold'em. In total, Poker packs in 32,768 different combinations; that's 98,304 combinations between the three players.

It took more than three years to perfect this intricate complication, with no fewer than 655 components. The principle behind the mechanism is as follows: the cards are dealt by means of pushers which spins the four concentric discs on which the cards are printed to shuffle them.

When the spinning stops the cards are dealt on the dial in three windows featuring angled shutters to ensure that each hand is invisible to the other players. In addition, with each press of the pusher, a cathedral gong chimes. Legibility is guaranteed via a ruby or spinel and black PVD-treated titanium hands. The transparent case-back provides a view of the oscillating winding rotor, which is also a playable roulette wheel.